Various vehicle systems and industrial machinery have control units that house electronic control components within a case. The electronic control components held in the control unit may be processing components (e.g., a central processing unit or CPU), input/output components, power control components, tractive and/or braking control components, heating and/or cooling control components, and the like. The electronic control components may include circuit boards and electronic devices electrically connected to the circuit boards. During operation, the electronic control components may generate significant heat within the case of the control unit. The heat may negatively affect operation of the electronic control components, and potentially may damage the electronic control components.
To dissipate heat away from the electronic control components, some control units may direct an air stream through the case such that the flowing air absorbs heat through convection before the air is exhausted out of the case. The flowing air may include dirt, debris, moisture, or other contaminants that may damage the electronic control components if the air contacts the electronic control components directly. For example, in a vehicle application, the air directed through the control unit may be ambient air from the environment that the vehicle system is traveling through. Sufficiently filtering and conditioning the ambient air prior to directing the air through the control unit may be undesirable. It may be desirable, however, to have systems and methods that differ from those that are currently available.